Four Self-Portraits by Famous Artists
Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino)—"Self-Portrait", 1506
One of the beautiful self-portraits by famous artist Raphael was drawn at the age of 23. It measures around 45cm×33cm and is located at the world-famous Uffizi Gallery. The Italian painter used oil on board to draw his self-portrait，which was the clearest and the most recognizable self-portraits of Raphael himself.
Leonardo da Vinci——"Portrait of a Man in Red Chalk", 1512
"Portrait of a Man in Red Chalk" is a self-portrait of da Vinci at the age of 60 and measures around 33. 3cm×21. 6cm, which is on display in Biblioteca Reale, Turin, Italy. It is drawn with red chalk on paper and represents the head of an elderly man in a three-quarter view. In the portrait, the length of the hair is uncommon in Renaissance portraits.
Rembrandt van Rijn——"Self-Portrait with Beret and Turned-up Collar", 1659
Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn painted his self-portrait in 1659 when he was 53 years old. It shows his worried expression that clearly portrays the troubled condition of his mind at that point of his life since the year 1659 was a year of anxiety for him. This self-portrait found its place among the Benjamin Altman Collection, which has been exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art since 1913.
Edgar Degas—"Degas Au Porte-Fusain", 1855
Edgar Degas made this self-portrait only when he was twenty-one years old. It was one of the most remarkable of his fifteen self-portraits. Degas was seated seemingly without fear and anxiety. The pose in the painting was formal and academic. The painting is located in the musee d'Orsay, Paris, France.
A year after Walt Disney made history with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, its artists were struggling to find the right design for Bambi（斑比) , the tale of a young deer. The film's production team realized they needed a style that highlighted almost all of the leaves, flowers and mushrooms in their first feature-length animated film.
Soon they got their inspiration from Tyrus Wong, whose work was on display as a new exhibit at New York City's Museum. In 1938, the Walt Disney Studio hired him to draw the frames between the main drawings of the animators. After reading the story of Bambi, he saw an opportunity to break out of his humdrum job. He said to himself "This is all outdoor scenery. And I'm a landscape painter. This will be great!"
Inspired by Chinese landscape paintings, he used watercolor and pastels to make sketches that bring the feeling of forest scenes with simple strokes of color and special attention to light and shadow. Wong's sketches attracted Disney and became the guide for Bambi's background artists, who were later trained to imitate his style. "His expression was a great leap forward for the medium, "writes John Lasseter，the chief creative officer for Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios. "Where other films were literal, Bambi was expressive and emotional. "In2001，Wong was named"Disney Legend", and he received the recognition as the true lead artist.
He pursued art all his life and still made art during his retirement, including toy animals from recycled materials and handmade kites that he regularly flew off the Santa Monica Pier in California. "People admire his works because of Bambi, but Bambi was just a really small partof his life, "says his youngest daughter. "He considers himself not a great artist but a lucky artist, who was at the right place at the right time. "
In films and TV shows, police investigators dust crime scenes for fingerprints to catch criminals. Now, conservationists are using a similar method to tackle the illegal overfishing of sharks and rays (鱼).
Overfishing is when too many of a particular type of fish are caught, putting that species in danger. Many sharks and rays are killed because of a high demand and a high price for their fins. In some countries, the fins are used as an ingredient in shark fin soup, which some people believe can cure certain illnesses.
About 100 species of sharks and rays are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), an agreement between 184countries to limit sales of wildlife that may be at the risk of dying out. CITES has teams of people who visit ports and fish factories to look for evidence of protected species being illegally caught and sold. The idea is to punish those responsible and stop it from happening, but finding evidence is difficult. If a fish is already cut up and ready for sale, it 's hard to tell which species it was. Often, fish are sold before inspectors arrive.
Scientists have come up with a process that analyzes "fish dust"—tiny traces of fish that get left on the floor at ports and factories, even after the fish are no longer there. Using a process called metabarcoding (宏条形码技术), they examine the chemical that carries all the information about a living thing's body and characteristics in the dust and can tell if it is from a protected species.
The scientists tested the method in Indonesia, where many sharks and rays are caught and sold. They studied dust from seven sites and found evidence of 61 species of sharks and rays. More than 80% of them were CITES protected species. Dr. Andhika Prasetyo, the scientist who led the research, hopes the new method will be helpful in protecting endangered sea life.
Dryland ecosystems cover about 40% of land on earth and support more than 2 billion people, and once degraded, they are difficult to restore. One technique for restoring dryland ecosystems with native plants —— direct seeding — is promising, but has many disadvantages.
"In degraded drylands only around 10% of directly sown seeds actually establish them selves, "says Frederick Dadzie, PhD candidate at UNSW. "And given that native seeds are expensive and often in low supply, this is full of problems. "
Since one of the potential issues of degraded drylands is an absence of native microorganisms in the soil, the research team acquired native microorganisms from undisturbed sites and grew them. They then introduced them to soil that contained the seeds of native plants and planted them in degraded drylands.
They found that microorganisms were very beneficial for getting the plants established. especially at the earlier stages when the seeds were growing to seedlings(树苗). After that, the relationship was less clear.
"That microorganisms improve germination(发芽)in degraded habitats is good news for ecosystem restoration, " says Mr. Dadzie. "And what's better: this is a simple, two-step process that can be applied to restoring dryland ecosystems. First, combining the seeds and soil into pellets(小球), and second, providing those pellets with the microorganisms. "
"Not only are drylands valuable as food bowls for vast numbers of people, but they also provide other services, "says Mr. Dadzie. "Due to the vastness of drylands, they have the highest potential to absorb atmospheric carbon and therefore contribute substantially to climate change. "
While this study was conducted at a field site，the seedlings were provided with both shade and water. In the future，similar experiments should be repeated but under more naturalized conditions with environmentally determined sun and rain.
We're fortunate to have access to the dynamic network technology, which provides rich resources for learning, connecting and entertaining ourselves. The same tool that can enhance our work efficiency also has the power to trap us in a web of distractions.
An astonishing 84. 4% of us, on average，report being distracted at work. There are some usual suspects. Emails steal the attention of 26%. Phone calls and texts influence a massive 43%. Coworkers shift the attention of 27%. And the Internet, with its huge source of information and entertainment, distracts 41% of us. What's more, a survey reveals that an overwhelming 67% of workers say that their work is often affected by the overmuch time spent on meetings and calls.
These distractions are more than mere annoyances. lt is their lasting impact that makes it impossible for us to focus on any single task. In this way, they greatly reduce our work efficiency.
A study offers more insight into our struggle with distractions. It found that our brainwaves pulsate(搏动) at different frequencies depending on the type of external stimuli. The rhythm is faster for automatic stimuli but slows down for tasks we consciously choose to focus on.
Just think about it: You're involved in a project, and then your phone receives a text message. And regaining your focus might be harder than you expect. The same goes for that catchy news headline or an interesting social media post that catches your eye, pulling you away from your task and making you lost in the sea of distractions.
A. But it is double-edged.
B. Some distractions can be avoided.
C. Statistics reveal how common this issue is.
D. They're also persistent and endless in getting our attention. E. The sound of it is loud enough to interrupt your concentration.
F. Stimulating our interest and increasing the speed of our work are important. G. This makes maintaining focus in the noisy world an ever-increasing challenge.
On Dec. 26, 2022，Gelinne, a former Navy commander，aged 60, was gazing out the windows of his house in Edgewater. That's when his daughter, Aimee, 1 a small aircraft and cried "Look!".
Gelinne looked up in time to see the aircraft a few hundred yards away, losing 2 . As the plane disappeared behind the trees, he 3 it was going to land in the frozen creek(河湾). Without 4 , Gelinne ran down to the waterfront. The plane had slid to a stop on the frozen creek, far from shore. It was 5 . The pilot was standing on the wing.
Knowing from his Navy training that even a few minutes in the icy water could kill the pilot, Gelinne tested the ice with his foot 6 . He figured, if a kayak(皮艇) could float on the water, it could slide on the ice. 7 , he pulled his kayak out and tried using shovels to push the boat along. His first attempts left it spinning in circles, but he made progress withstrength. It was8 work.
When Gelinne 9 to reach the plane, only its tail was visible. The pilot's chest surrounded by water, he was standing on a tail wing, seized by10 . Gelinne pushed his boat off the ice and into the water, trying to keep the pilot calm. The pilot grabbed the bow(船舷) of the boat and now the two men were11 together. What Gelinne 12 to do at the very moment was getting the pilot up onto an unbroken ice shelf before the man lost too much body heat. But each time Gelinne tried to land13 the ice shelf, the kayak broke through. Fortunately, a police officer arrived and radioed for help. Then, another boat arrived just intime to 14 the pilot, Steve Couchman, 71, and helped Gelinne to shore. Exhausted, still, Gelinne was 15 with what he'd done that day.
China's online literature industry is making an increasing impact overseas with some even(say) that it can compare with U. S. and Korean films and TV shows. By the end of2022, more than 16, 000 Chinese online works of literature (export) abroad, including over 6, 400 physical book authorizations and over 9, 600 (translate) online works.
Overseas readers of Chinese web novels exceeded(超过) 150 million in 2022, mainlyGeneration Z born between 1996 and 2010. Among 15 major _ (category)，urban, western and eastern fantasy， gaming, and science fiction emerged as the five most popular types among overseas readers.
In June, Wang Xiang, member of the online literature committee at the China Writers Association, told domestic media Chinese web novels are often similar to Hollywood movies in terms of their storytelling methods and focus superhuman abilities. "Chinese online literature has become a (globe) cultural center compared with Hollywood movies in terms of (it) reach and influence among the worldwide audience, " said Wang.
Last year, 16 Chinese online works of literature were included in the British Library's Chinese collection for the first time, all ofwere first published on digital reading platform Qidian where readers can read kinds of Chinese online literature. According to data released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in April, the revenue(收入) of the domestic online literature market reached 38. 93 billion yuan in 2022, a year-on-year(grow) of 8. 8%.
假如你是学生会主席李华，请你以"健康生活"为主题，写一篇英语发言稿，内容包括以下三点:1. 列举当前的现状;2. 提出合理的建议;3．倡导健康生活。注意：1. 写作词数应为80左右;2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯;3. 发言稿开头与结尾已为你写好，不计入总词数。
Dear fellow students,
As the president of our Student Union, I would like to give a speech on healthy lifestyle.
Thank you for listening!
My dad, John, was a basketball fan. He played in college and even coached a local youth team for a few years. His love for the game was unbelievable，and some of my earliest memories are of us playing basketball in the nearby court. I've even seen old photos of him inhis college days, a proud smile on his face as he held a basketball. But when it came to my own involvement in basketball, he was surprisingly positive that I should focus only on study. "Basketball won't pay the bills, "" he'd often say, a statement that always struck me as ironic (讽刺的)given how much he loved the sport.
l loved basketball too, and I was pretty good at it. My school coach, Coach Miller, saw potential in me and encouraged me to join the school team. He said l had a natural talent that could take me far if I trained hard. But my dad was against it. He believed that sports would distract me from my studies, and with the final exam around the corner, he didn 't want to take any chances. "Your future is in the classroom, not on the court, "he would insist, dashing (使破灭) my dreams of following in his athletic footsteps.
This tension between us reached a peak when my head teacher, Mrs. Williams, announced a school basketball tournament. It was a big deal; students from the whole city would come to watch. My friends were excited, and even some teachers were talking about it. However, 1knew I couldn 't participate without my dad's approval. It felt like an invisible chain holding meback, a conflict between my passion and his expectations.
Then something unexpected happened. Mrs. Williams called my dad for a meeting. I was nervous but also hopeful. Mrs. Williams was not just an educator; she was also a parent and understood the balance between academics and afterschool activities. She had seen students succeed in both, and I hoped she could convince my dad.
After the meeting, my dad seemed to be in deep thought. He didn't speak immediately, taking his time as if weighing his words carefully. Finally, he broke the silence, "Mrs. Williams made some good points about teamwork and discipline. Maybe it's time to rethink my stance(立场) on you playing basketball. "
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右;2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
l was thrilled but also cautious. "So, can I play in the tournament?" I asked.
As I scanned the audience, I spotted my dad.
